Chicago Tribune

When education expert Timothy Knowles moved to Chicago about 12 years ago, he wondered why the city's public school system let about half of its students drop out.

"I think my best answer was that for 70 to 100 years, you didn't actually need a high school diploma to find a decent job . . . there was that much industry here that you would be OK without it," said Knowles, director of the University of Chicago's Urban Labs. "The economy has completely changed, and the schools are just, just beginning to catch up. We've got miles to go."